Friday, July 11, 2008

left of center

If you want me

You can find meLeft of centerOff of the stripIn the outskirtsIn the fringesIn the cornerOut of the gripWhen they ask me"What are you looking at?"I always answer"Nothing much" (not much)I think they know thatI'm looking at themI think they thinkI must be out of touch

But I'm onlyIn the outskirtsAnd in the fringesOn the edge

suzanne vega's 'left of center'

singer songerwriter suzanne vega was born on july 11 1959. it's unfortunate that suzanne's songs don't get much airtime and it's hard to believe it's been over twenty years since her break out hits of luka and tom's diner. although I've enjoyed all her albums over the years, the song that strikes the deepest chord in me is one of her even earlier songs - left of center. probably because I've found that when we can position ourselves at the margins we get a much broader view and it's at the margins where I have found that we can achieve real understanding of others.

thanks steve for the head's up on this piece . by the way there is a relatively new album out by suzanne entitled 'beauty and crime' - and this album shows us that she still one of the finest lyrical and literate songwriters around!

11 comments:

I have always been a Suzanne Vega fan. I still have her first 2 records on vinyl as that was still the standard form way back when they were released. Marlene On The Wall is one of my favorite songs. I have the new record but I haven't really listened to it that much.

The Marginal Ones. The Outsiders. The Exiles. People on the borderlines. All those looking in as distinguished from those in the close huddle at the center, or the even tighter one around the feeding trough (notice I didn't write "as opposed to" but "as distinguised from"). In other words all those who can count on nothing but their own wits. The Strangers in a Strange Land - specially when that Land is their very own. They are the ones who write the stories, the songs, the plays, paint the murals, make the quilts and feed what most needs feeding - the imagination.

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